The Good Son
by AngeloftheMorning1978
Summary: Arthur and Ariadne's blind son, Daniel, is kidnapped and held for ransom. Apart of my Little Family series.
1. Chapter 1

**Arthur and Ariadne's blind son, Daniel, is kidnapped and held for ransom. Apart of my Little Family series.**

**The Good Son**

~ Daniel was a light sleeper. His mother had long ago put a white noise machine by his bed to drown out the world so he wouldn't wake so easily, but it seldom worked.

His blindness meant that his other senses were heightened and he woke up when he heard his mother's voice.

They were fighting again. Mommy and Papa. They had been doing that a lot lately. Something about his work and how he couldn't do it anymore. How mommy would't let him because it was dangerous.

Daniel left his warm bed, counted the ten steps to his door, twenty steps down the hall way till he felt his feet hit the living room rug. He didn't bother with the lights. His world was always in darkness anyhow and he could maneuver silently through the house with no need for light.

He could tell by how the room felt that no one was in it. That his parents were in their room and talking with the door open because they thought the children were asleep.

"Arthur, we're talking about Darcy being an apprentice in a world class ballet company." mommy was saying.

"We're talking about sending a twelve year old to St. Petersburg for a year." Papa said. "The answer is no."

"She has talent!"

"I'm not saying she doesn't! But we're in Paris, why can't she train here? Isn't she already in the best ballet troupe?" he argued.

Daniel could hear his father's light and graceful footsteps on the bedroom carpet. He was pacing which meant he was annoyed and frustrated.

The little boy ducked lower so he wouldn't be seen.

"Arthur, she has been passed over three times for an apprenticeship. The two years she had to take off for her cancer treatments hurt her career."

"Her _career_?" Papa said in a mocking voice. "Darcy is still a child. Her career is school, school and more school. This ballet thing is what she does as an elective, a hobby. A summer time thing to get her out of the house. It's not a job."

"Arthur, she has been in professional productions! Your own mother was a premier ballerina!"

"Yes, she was." papa sighed. "But she had to beat a lot of girls out to be on top and worked very hard to stay there. Dancing is not a job; it's an opportunity. Darcy needs to finish school and get a solid degree behind her. She can be a dancer all she wants in her free time."

"She has the opportunity now to be on stage and train with the best!" mommy almost shouted.

"Ariadne, she already trains with the best. I pay a good deal of money for her to go to dance camps and she attends the best school of dance in Paris. None of that is cheap by the way, and now you want to send our daughter to Russia?"

Daniel could feel his father's anger and sensed his mother and upset.

"The answer is no." Papa said at last.

"The answer is not _no_." Mommy snapped. "She will never be a professional dancer now!"

"Fine." Papa said. "Then we're done with this whole ballerina thing anyway."

"What?"

"It's too expensive to have her in the classes. Daniel's school, not to mention Dominic's private school, saving for their colleges and the vacations we plan to take this summer. Ariadne, I'm not an extractor anymore. The money isn't exactly coming in like it did before. We own this apartment, but do you know how expensive it is to live in Paris? I pay myself a salary to manage the company, but I gave up the bulk of the fortune to a trust for the children." Papa was saying.

Daniel felt his heart pick up a beat.

His school. He always knew his school was very expensive. The kids there were always saying so. How the tuition was very high and that they had to have scholarships and grant money just to pay. How spaces were limited at his school for the blind. Part of this was his fault. They were fighting because of him.

"Arthur, don't be dramatic." mommy was saying. "I have my job and we're hardly destitute."

"Darcy is not going to Russia and that's final, if she isn't good enough at the best school money can buy, then maybe she isn't good enough to be a professional dancer." Papa said coldly.

"Arthur, how can you say such a thing? She's a wonderful dancer!"

"I know she is. But there must be better ones out there. If she had what it took she would be there by now."

They were talking more and Daniel decided he didn't want to listen. He felt wrong for invading their privacy.

His mind was still spinning on what he had heard about how expensive his school was, he didn't pay attention to his feet hitting the rug and he knocked over a table lamp. It smashed to the floor before he could find it in his dark world.

He froze like a rabbit and hoped they wouldn't hear.

He heard the light click on and his father's footsteps in his dress shoes step onto the hardwood floor.

"Daniel?" papa was saying.

The little boy sighed and turned to face the music.

"Sorry, I was getting a glass of water and got lost." he said lamely.

"Daniel?" mommy's voice came out of the bedroom. "Honey, don't take another step, there's broken glass!"

"I know." Daniel said as he stooped down and started to lightly feel for the pieces.

"Daniel, no! You'll cut yourself. Arthur!" mommy was saying a the little boy easily found and picked up the broken lamp without hurting himself.

"It's okay, mommy." he said. She always worried about him. She never thought he could do things on his own.

"Daniel, step to you right. There's no glass there." papa was saying.

"Arthur, just pick him up and take him to our room." mommy said in a frustrated voice.

"Daniel, feel with your feet where the glass is, be careful." papa was saying.

"Arthur!"

"Don't fight." Daniel said. He didn't want them to fight because of him.

"We're not fighting." mommy said and he could feel her lift him up.

"Mommy, I can do it." Daniel said as she lifted him and carried him.

He felt she was so much smaller than papa was. That it was a real effort for her to carry him just now.

"You're getting big." she huffed as she sat him down and he wasn't sure now where he was now.

If she had left him find his own way out, he would have been fine. He may have cut his toe, but he would live.

"I'm here." papa said from right behind him. Helping the little boy to find his bearings again.

"I shouldn't have bought a glass lamp." mommy was saying as he heard her tip the broken thing and all it's dangerous pieces into the kitchen trash.

"I'm sorry I broke the lamp." Daniel whispered to his father.

"It's alright, son. It was ugly anyway. You did me a favor." papa said.

Daniel tried not to laugh. He felt a little better after he father said it was alright.

"Go get your water and go to bed." Papa said and pointed him in the direction of the kitchen.

"I've got it." mommy was saying and quickly put a glass in his hands for him.

Daniel tried to hide his annoyance at having her serve him like a waitress. She was always doing things like this. She would insist on him using special plates at dinnertime. They held a compartment for each side and had the face of a clock.

'Chicken at six o'clock. Mashed potatoes at 9 and 12. Peas at 12 and three.' he knew she even watched him eat so that she cold make sure he got it.

Papa, by contrast, never told him anything. More often than not, he told Daniel to help himself to hotdog from the stove and don't forget to bring the mustard to the table.

"Ariadne, he can get it." papa said sternly.

"Daniel, did you have a nightmare?" mommy asked and he felt her kneel down in front of him. He could smell her bath soap, but not her perfume. That worried him.

A few weeks ago, mommy had stopped wearing perfume. She had two distinct perfumes. One was for everyday. That was clean and sweet smelling. It popped in the air like fruit in your mouth. The other was the one she wore that made papa happy. He always wanted to hold her and kiss her when she wore that perfume. Then they would go to bed early and papa would be happy when it was time to take them to school.

But to not wear any perfume at all, worried the little boy.

"Daniel, finish you water, put the glass in the sink and go to bed." papa said.

"He can sleep with us." mama said.

"He has his own bed."

"He had a nightmare."

"He never said he had a nightmare, he said he wanted a drink of water."

"Look at him, he's upset!"

"I can go back to bed." Daniel offered.

"You can stay with us till you get sleepy." mommy said and took his water from him after he drank it. She put it in the sink for him and lead him into their bedroom like he didn't know how to find his way.

"Ariadne-" papa was saying.

"Enough." mommy said sharply as the little boy climbed into the comfortable bed the children normally weren't allowed in.

He felt mommy cuddle next time. Her lips on his neck and her fingers running though the curls on his head.

He felt papa come to bed as well and in the safety of his parent's love, he fell asleep.

**Elizabeth Debicki who played Jordan in the remake of "The Great Gatsby" as Sadie! She's perfect!**


	2. Chapter 2

2.

~ "But you talked to him, right?" Darcy was saying as Ariadne helped her put on the heavy make up required for her dance number.

"He thinks your too young to go to Russia on your own." Ariadne sighed as she wrapped a towel around her daughter's shoulders to protect the beaded costume against damage as she applied a thick layer of eye shadow.

"I won't be on my own, _Mother_." Darcy complained. "I'll be living with the troupe. How is it any different than summer dance camp?"

"Well, it's a year, for one thing. For another, it's in another country." Ariadne sighed.

Darcy would play on of the many fairies that would populate Neverland. She wasn't chosen to play Wendy or even Tinkerbell and the disappointment had been hard on her.

"It's so much more demanding at this level, mother." Darcy said as she smacked her freshly painted ruby red lips.

"I understand that." Ariadne said and finished pinning Darcy's wild hair into the net cap. Now she looked just like the other girls her age. All of them second string dancers in a professional production of '_Peter Pan_'. It was good work for someone as young as Darcy, but the girl wasn't happy.

"How will I ever be a primary dancer if I don't tour? Madam Tannis won't elevate me and it's been a long time since the cancer!" Darcy whined.

"Stop that. You'll ruin your make up." Ariadne warned.

The other girls who were playing fairies seemed perfectly happy with their roles. They fluttered about the dressing room, practicing their fairy walk. A sort of wiggly dance meant to look like they had wings.

"It's opening night, you go out and dance better than the others. That will set you apart." Ariadne instructed.

"I was already set apart." Darcy corrected. "I was offered a chance to tour with a professional troupe. You think they offer that to just anyone?"

~ Arthur waited outside the girls dressing room with the other proud fathers of the ballet dancers. All of them excited to see their little princesses in the production. It wasn't every day their daughters were in a real show. This wasn't a silly recital put on by a dance school. This was a major production with paying customers.

Only the mothers were allowed in to help the young dancers get ready, then the fathers were allowed to lavish their daughters with roses and tell them how proud they were.

It was a routine Arthur had done countless times now. Darcy had been a minor dancer in '_Aladdin_', '_Swan Lake_', '_Sleeping Beauty_' and had been in every production of '_The Nutcracker'_ since she was cancer free. He was already proud of her and felt, with time, she would be the dancer they were looking for. Russia was out of the question.

"You may come in now." The teacher came out and waved the father's in.

Arthur spotted his wife and daughter right away. Darcy, due to her seniority in the dance troupe, had her own dressing table near the front.

"You look beautiful." Arthur lied as he wished she didn't have to wear so much make up and hide her long, curly hair. While he was at it, he wished her costume wasn't so revealing to.

"I'm not Wendy." Darcy said hatefully as she took the dozen day breaker roses Arthur gave her.

"Well, I'm not Peter Pan." he sighed. Nothing made the girl happy these days.

"I'm a third alternate for Wendy." Darcy said. "I did really well on the ropes when we did the flying dance, everyone said so."

"Darcy, we're on in twenty." the older woman who ran the dressing room said. She was one of the many teachers who had once been a dancer. She took no nonsense from the children. "I expect you to have this group ready."

"Yes, madam." Darcy said with a neat little curtsey.

The girl looked to Arthur.

"If I went to Russia for a year, I could study with a troupe that does all kinds of acrobatics." she said hopefully.

"I said no to Russia." Arthur told her. "If you want to take gymnastics, fine. So long as it doesn't interfere with your school work."

"I don't care abut school, I want to be a professional dancer!" Darcy almost cried.

"Darcy." Ariadne sighed.

"You will do as I say." Arthur said darkly.

"Everyone please leave and find your seats!" the teacher called out. "Darcy, start their warm ups, please."

Arthur followed Ariadne out of the dressing room with the other proud parents.

"Oh, I left my purse." Ariadne said and started to turn back.

"I'll get it. Go sit with Sadie and Eames. I left the boys with them. Drew is with dad." Arthur said.

"The boys are with Sadie and Eames? Why do you hate them so much?" she said with a teasing smile.

"Who? Sadie and Eames or the boys?" he said with the first real smile he had since she forbid him anymore extractions.

She leaned over and kissed him.

"Hurry up." she whispered and he could smell the perfume he liked her to wear. The one she always put on when she wanted him to touch her and kiss her.

His body liked that perfume, and woke up like a sleeping dragon.

"I will." he whispered back.

~ The girls were doing their warm up, their silly fairy dance as Arthur snuck back into the dressing room.

The teacher nodded at him but made the pupils keep focus. He grabbed Ariadne's black handbag and started to leave. Man like, he failed to grasp both handles and the contents spilled out.

The attention of the hawk like teacher was focused on him as he apologized in a whisper and picked up Ariadne's stray lipstick, compact, hair brush... and...

He blinked and didn't touch it at first. He knew exactly what it was. Knew it came out of Ariadne's purse. Despite the presence of a group of girls, the dressing room was clean. The teacher was scowling at him again and he was quick to pocket the compact case of birth control pills and leave.

~ He was angry at what he found in Ariadne's purse. Angry that she was on birth control pills and didn't tell him. Why was she on the pill again? He had a vasectomy right after Drew was born. It had been apart of their bargain not to have any more children. That four was enough.

He composed himself before showing the usher his season pass ticket, and was waved inside.

He found his family waiting for him in their private box. The founder's box boxseats they had bought in advance due to the fact the entire family were ballet buffs. Eames was the only exception. But he normally used the two hours for nap time anyway.

The boys were in their seat, Sadie and Eames talking or fighting, Arthur could never tell. Albert, his father, was holding Drew in his arms and watching the orchestra pit.

"Thanks for coming, Dad." Arthur said as he slid in the seat between his wife and his father.

"My pleasure." Albert said. The older man taking time off from his own tour to come and see Darcy dance.

Drew smiled her sweet baby grin at him and leaned over to have him hold her.

"Daddy's girl." Ariadne whispered in his ear.

Arthur filched away from his wife slightly. The idea she was on birth control because she was sleeping with another man had implanted itself in his mind and refused to let go.

"You know, I was thinking." she said and leaned next to him.

"About what?" he asked darkly.

"You were right. Darcy is getting out of control lately, and Russia would only make things worse. She needs to take a break from dancing. I think she pushes herself too hard."

"Hmm." Arthur mumbled as the light dimmed for the performance.


	3. Chapter 3

3.

~ Daniel felt his brother grow restless beside him. He was used to sitting through the ballet with his family. The little narration box at his ear detailed the story for the visually impaired. It was mostly used by the elderly and good for those who couldn't read the programs provided and wanted to understand the story.

Daniel was sure he was the only blind child in the audience. Sometimes, it felt the whole world was going on without him. He didn't even try to keep up. When people spoke about colors and seeing the ballet dancers, he let them talk. He didn't feel left out, for how could he feel left out from something he didn't understand?

He knew his sister was a good dancer. She often used him for practice. He would hold her hand as she used him for balance. According to Darcy, Daniel was a much better partner than Dominic. It was easy for him to dance sometimes. He was so attuned to others moving around him, sensing them, feeling them, hearing them, it wasn't hard to guess where Darcy would move next.

But Daniel didn't care for dancing the way she did. Dominic would laugh at him and say he would have to wear purple tights. Daniel guessed purple wasn't for boys by the way Dominic said it.

"How long is this thing?" Dominic hissed next to his brother.

Daniel was listening to his little box describe Peter sneaking into Wendy's room. How TInkerbell was hiding in the drawer and they dancing around each other, trying to look for the fairy.

"It's just the first act." Daniel told him. Dominic was a year older, but somehow much more unfocused and immature.

"It's boring. When are they going to fly? I didn't even recognize Darc." his older brother said fitfully.

"She was one of the fairies. She danced already." Daniel said.

"I'm bored."

"Shh!" Daniel hissed.

The younger brother suddenly realized he had to go to the bathroom. Normally, it wasn't a problem, home and school, he knew how to get there. But he had only been to the theater a few times. He didn't want to ask his mother to take him. It would be one more reason for her to coddle him. His father was talking to grandpa and Eames was already snoring.

Dominic was moving with the music and didn't notice his younger brother slip away. Daniel was almost out the door when a lady hissed.

"Where are you going, handsome?"

It was Sadie, he had forgotten about her. He sensed her bend her long body over Eames and knew she was looking sharply at him.

He could smell a spicy perfume that was so unlike mother's. A perfume that wasn't clean, but almost electrical. Like she was advertising something that was stinging and painful.

"Bathroom." Daniel hissed.

"Can you find it?" she whispered back.

"Yes." he lied.

"Ok." she whispered. "You know, you're so good at getting around, I always forget you can't see."

He felt slightly pained by that comment. He didn't like to be reminded he was blind. he knew it better than anyone. Yet, he realized as he walked out of the balcony and took a left, Sadie meant it as a very sincere compliment.

He hugged the wall, like he had been taught in school. He kept expecting the wall to come to an end and hear the ding of the elevators or the sounds of their movement.

He strained his ears and heard nothing. He kept walking till he heard doors open.

"Excuse me, I forgot where the bathrooms were." he said and lowered his face. He didn't want whoever was there to see he was blind.

"It's across the lobby over there." A man's voice said.

Daniel knew he must have pointed in some direction and didn't know the child couldn't see.

"Strait ahead?" Daniel asked, but the footsteps of whoever it was, was fading and he was left alone again.

He could hear and feel the orchestra playing again. He was still close to the theater. Bathrooms were a ways off. He could find it on his own. Papa would be proud, and so might mommy. Dominic would be impressed. His older brother could never find anything on his own.

He would find it, then find his way back.

He felt the wall end and felt a rush of pleasure that he might be in the lobby.

He took a deep breath and reached out for something to help him. Something to help guide him. A bannister, a chair, a plant, a column. He had touched them all before and knew they were in the lobby.

Nothing. He felt nothing but air.

He kept walking and suddenly his foot slipped and the ground wasn't there.

'_Stairs._' he thought as his body fell helplessly down. He couldn't stop it. Couldn't find the railing to grab hold of and the carpeted stair case was too steep. He groaned when he finally hit the floor and was grateful that he wasn't hurt. He had fallen down the stairs many times and had learned the hard way how to fall. Another thing they taught him in school. The teachers all saying it would prepare him for the worst. He had fallen down three flights of stairs before, not counting this one. The worst was at school and they had called Papa to go to the hospital. Daniel was glad it wasn't mommy because she would have been upset.

But Papa had only told him to be more careful. That all the pretty girls liked boys with scars, that he fell down plenty of stairs when he was a lot older than Daniel and didn't have the excuse of not seeing.

That had made the child feel better. Especially when his papa had taken the rest of the day off work and they had gone for ice cream. His father saying mommy could never find out about the stairs.

Just now, Daniel didn't feel good at all. He had stupidly forgotten that they had a balcony seat and the lobby, with it's large echoing bathrooms, were on the ground floors. The elevators always took them down, but Daniel hand't heard them.

He should have asked where the elevator were. Now, he was on the floor, he wasn't exactly sure which floor he was on, and which direction he was facing.

The smart thing to do, would be to find those stupid stairs again, climb up them carefully, and get back to the balcony seat. He hand't kept a good count of the steps he took, but knew their seats were close to the stage, therefore, close to the music. The closer he got to the music the closer he would be to his family.

He would would have to admit defeat by going back. Whisper to Papa to take him to the bathroom and let mommy know he couldn't do it alone like he thought he could.

The idea of surrender was horrible, but he could think of no other way.

"Are you alright, son?" a voice came and Daniel sensed someone was standing over him.

"Can you help me?" the child asked hopefully.

"I saw you fall down the stairs." the man said.

"I fell. I'm clumsy." Daniel tried to explain and he sat up and tried to look at the man's face.

Normally, he would show who ever was talking his ear. That way he could hear them. But sighted people didn't do that. Dominic told him that people always knew he was blind by the way he never looked at them. So, Daniel fought his nature and tried to face the man's voice.

"Can you just point me in the direction of the bathrooms?" he asked.

"Sure. But you're sure you're alright?" the man asked and the child felt a hand take his.

"Fine." he promised.

Once he was in the echo filled bathrooms, he wanted to stay here. Papa and Dominic would find him here when they noticed he wasn't in his seat. He just didn't want mommy to know he had failed in his quest.

He used the toilet, washed his hands, and bravely embarked to find the elevators. He knew they had brail on them and that his family was on the third floor. From there, maybe another usher would help him.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if he found his way back on his own and surprised them all? He smiled at the idea.

"Need help, son?" the voice was back.

"Elevators?" he asked.

"Sure." the man said and clasped his hand in his own. "I seen you here with your parents. Is your sister in the ballet?"

"A fairy." Daniel said and didn't like the way the stranger was gripping too tightly to his hand. "Just point me in the direction, please. I can make it on my own."

"I can take you." the man said and Daniel felt his feet cross over onto the metal floor of the lift.

He reached his hands out for the buttons. Papa always made him push them so he could practice his real world brail. But the man stopped him.

"Third floor." Daniel said worriedly. He didn't like this man in the elevator with him. He might take him back to his parents and tell how he had fallen down the stairs. Then, mommy would be mad and Dominic would laugh at him.

"Right. That's where we're going, son." the man said.

Dominic knew instantly they were going down.

"No, third floor." he said feeling sick with worry. "Not the ground floor."

"We're going to the third floor." the man said.

Daniel felt the elevator go down further still and opened int he garage.

He knew it was the underground garage because of how cool it was here. How it smelled of gasoline and mechanical things like oil. It was a place where Papa parked the car and made all of them hold hands to walk through.

"My dad is looking for me." Daniel said at last. He pressed himself to a corner of the elevator.

"My dad knows I went to the bathroom and will be looking for me. He'll be angry." the child said.

A deep, horrible crush of fear moved over him. It felt like it punched him over and over in the chest. He had never been so terrified in his life.

"It's okay now." the man was saying. "We're on the third floor."

**So, I've been asked about the Texas bill that wants to essentially ban abortions. I think if you read my work, you know I'm pro choice and very liberal. Texas is not a sea of republican red. Most people I know are very liberal but don't think they can overcome the conservatives of Texas. It take people like our brave filibusters to send Rick Perry pissing in his pants like the little pussy his is. **

** I hope that not everyone thinks Texas is such an conservative place just because the most arrogant people are in power and that they use that power to abuse others.**


	4. Chapter 4

4.

~ The first act came to a close with Peter Pan taking Wendy and her two brothers to Neverland. Ariadne had to admit, the role of Wendy went to a wonderful dancer. The wires that gave the illusion of flight was amazing because of the charming dance that Wendy and Peter did.

Talented as she was, Ariadne knew Darcy could never have pulled off such movements. Could never have given herself over to the facial expressions and comic timing that this Wendy did.

The house lights went up as the curtain closed. Ariadne turned to Arthur who was holding Drew on his lap. The two year old happy to be with her family and playing with the new doll they had gotten her at the gift shop. A shameless bribe to get her to behave while her big sister danced.

"Drew, what did you think of Darcy?" Ariadne asked as Arthur clutched his prized daughter closer.

Her husband stood and refused to look at her.

"I think I'll take the boys to the bathroom. They sat pretty still this whole time." he said.

Ariadne looked behind her to see that Eames was sleeping next to Sadie. The leggy spider woman looking as though she might just leave him there till morning.

She smiled at them and turned her attention to her boys. Both of them being suspiciously quite.

Dominic was asleep to. He didn't care for the ballet. Not even when Peter and Wendy started flying. She almost didn't notice Daniel wasn't seated beside her oldest.

"Daniel?" Ariadne suddenly shrieked.

She jumped up and Drew started to cry.

Eames snorted awake and Arthur looked wildly around their private balcony.

"What is it? What's happened?" Eames asked groggily.

"Daniel?" Ariadne shouted as she wildly looked for her helpless son.

"He went to the bathroom." Sadie tried to explain.

"Bathroom's in the lobby!" Ariadne almost cried. "You let him go alone? He doesn't know his way around the theater!"

She charged out of the balcony and into the hallway just as people were spilling out for intermission.

"Usher!" she shouted to an attendant in black. "Please!"

"Madam?" the usher asked.

"My son." she explained in French to save time. "He's missing. He's blind. He wandered away and we can't find him. Please, make a public announcement."

Ariadne had to hand it to staff at the theater, no sooner had she said a child was missing, than the doors were locked down, and an announcement went over the intercom for Daniel to try and announce his whereabouts.

"Attention!" the speaker crackled. "A young boy, under the age of six is missing. He is visually impaired. He had dark hair and was wearing tan slacks and a blue shirt and collar with a tan neck tie."

Immediately, people around her started to search for the boy as Arthur handed a screaming Drew to Sadie.

"I'm sorry, Ariadne." she was saying as Arthur almost roared for his son to come to him. "I thought he knew how to get there. He's so independent."

"Madam, none of the staff has seen the child in question." the attendant told her.

"He would have left during the first act. Don't you have people here in the lobby?" she cried.

Her youngest was screaming now; sensing something was wrong. Dominic tugging at her wanting to know where Daniel was. Albert pulling him away.

"Yes, madam. But no one has seen the child you've described. They are checking the restrooms now and no one can leave the building." he explained.

"Call the police!" she demanded.

Ariadne felt like she waited forever as the attendants looked for Daniel. The ballet was ground to a halt and the theater searched. The production taking a missing blind child very seriously.

"This is what he looks like." Ariadne sniffed as Arthur, her wonderful, steadfast Arthur, was on the PA telling Daniel to come out if he was hiding.

She showed him the boy's school picture on her smart phone.

"Very good. Email it to me, and we will post it on the viewing stations." the attendant said.

After over an hour, the show had to resume and the audience filed back into the theater. Darcy was released from the play and told what happened.

"They were saying a blind child was missing." she said worriedly as she hugged Ariadne. "I knew it had to be Daniel."

"Madam, the building has been on lock down, everywhere has been searched." the police detective said gravely. "Do you think he might have left the building?"

"Absolutely not!" Arthur snapped. "He's been taught better."

"Madam, our only option is that he has been taken."

~ There was nothing to do, but go home.

Ariadne didn't want to. She felt odd about coming home with one of her children missing. Sadie and Eames offered to stay, but Drew was already worn out and Dominic was behaving for once. Darcy had suddenly started acting like a grown up and began to help out. She even got dinner started.

"Who-" Ariadne shuttered as Arthur made her lie down in bed. "Who would do this? He's just a little boy."

"We don't know that he was kidnapped." Arthur said calmly. "It could be that he decided to leave the building and right now he's in some coffee shop and feeling all smug. We'll get a call soon and he'll be grounded for the rest of his natural life."

"He will never leave this house again!" Ariadne cried and suddenly, she couldn't stop crying.

"Arthur!" she wailed as the thought of her helpless baby, alone and in danger made her want to go insane.

"Who could have taken him? Why?" she gasped.

"I don't know." he was whispering. His body spooning around hers as she let go of everything except her own grief and worry.

"Arthur, I can't survive if something happens to him. I'll die." she whispered. "I promised the day he was born that I would look after him. That I would protect him."

"I know." he said numbly.

"Arthur, what if he's dead?" she sobbed and it felt like her heart had been savagely ripped out.

Why couldn't someone have taken her? Not her helpless, blind son, but her? She would endure anything before she let it hurt her child. She would gladly take his place if it meant he was safe at home.

She wanted her baby back. The sweet little boy who comforted her more than anything. Who's hair curled naturally in a way she envied. Her sweet boy who cuddled with her when he was a baby. Who chased his brother as well as a seeing child would. She would give anything down to her own life to have him back.

~ Albert was waiting for Arthur in the the living room.

"How is she?" the older man asked.

"Our son is missing." the point man said darkly.

The doctor had come by an our ago. Arthur had failed to keep his wife calm and she had to be given a shot to let her get some sleep. Arthur could hardly take his wife in such hysteria. She screamed and cried for their son like a child wanting a beloved toy.

She wanted him magically returned to her with no thought at all as to why he vanished or what condition he would come back in.

"I might be burying my son in a few days days, dad." the point man added darkly. It was a fear he had felt for hours now. He kept imaging the police finding Daniel dead. His poor little body, broken and lifeless in a storm swearer somewhere. His face bloodied and abused.

What if his kidnapers had _done_ things to him? Things no child should have to endue? What if they had touched him sexually? What if Daniel didn't have any clothes on when he was found? What if?

Arthur couldn't control himself anymore. He started to cry.

"Arthur, we'll find him." Albert promised.

"What if we do?" Arthur said as he sank into the couch next to his father. "What if we find him and he's been molested?"

"If we find him alive, that's the important thing." Albert said.

"What if we find him dead?" Arthur asked.

"We can't think like that."

"What if we do?" Arthur asked coldly.

"Then we bury him." Albert said calmly as the Point Man broke down.

Why couldn't this have happened to him? Not his son. Anything but his son. He never admitted it. But Daniel had always been his favorite. He was so much like Arthur in the way he did things. Dominic may have looked more like him, Darcy was enigma, and Drew was his little princess, but Daniel was wonderful meld of Ariadne's good looks and his behavior. He was so smart and capable; he was the best of both of them.

He couldn't survive it if he lost his son.


	5. Chapter 5

5.

~ Daniel woke up in a strange place. The mattress was thin and lumpy. The sheets were scratchy and the air here smelled like kitty litter and rotten take away meals that had been left out.

He couldn't hear traffic. He always heard traffic and it was reassuring to him. With traffic noises, he knew where the streets were. He knew when to stop when the sounds of noisy cars got too close. He knew what direction to walk by the sounds they made coming and going. Right now, he couldn't hear cars over the noise of a Bugs Bunny cartoon blaring.

Daniel didn't like TV. Not the way Dominic and Darcy did. It was just noise to him. The action wasn't narrated and it was a lot of pointless sound effects that meant nothing.

"Hello?" he called out as his feet hit the cold ground and he realized his shoes had been taken off.

'_Why would they take my shoes_?' he wondered. He reached out a hand and felt a wall. His voice didn't echo here, which meant the room was small. The floor was linoleum, and he could feel sunlight streaming through a window.

'_A window. Maybe I can get out that way_.' he thought as he backed up and let the sunlight hit him.

The man from the theater had picked him up and put him in the back of a car. He was told to be quite or else they would kill his mommy and daddy.

Daniel didn't say a word as they drove for a long time. He didn't know if they were still in the city or not now.

He was carried again to this apartment and they gave him something to drink. After that, he didn't remember much until now. Hid small body becoming too tired to stay awake.

He didn't want to listen to Bugs and Daffy fighting anymore. He liked the music, and Dominic had tried to narrate it all for him, but it moved too fast for him.

He found the annoying TV, his fingers fumbling for the buttons below, and he snapped it off.

"Don't like cartoons?" came a voice behind him.

It was a woman's voice. In his mind, all women were mother's or friends of mothers. She would help him.

"Please, I got lost. I need to call my parents. Can I use a phone?" he asked.

One of the things he learned in school was how to use a phone. How to memorize your home phone number and how to dial it.

"Sure." the voice said and handed him a smooth device with no keypad.

"Is this... a smart phone?" he asked feeling the urge to cry. "I... I need something with a key pad, please."

"I'll dial it for you." the woman's voice said as she suppressed laughter.

He sensed she was making fun of him and tried not to start crying. Crying was what babies did and he wasn't a baby anymore. Papa never cried and he wanted to be like papa.

He told the lady his number and trusted this stranger to dial it for him.

She handed him the smart phone back and he listened to the ringing on speaker. It rang and rang and no one answered.

"Maybe their not home." the woman's voice teased.

Daniel could tell by her speech and they way her voice had clipped, fast words, she was a teenager. She even sounded mean like teenage girls always were.

"Please, I want to go home." he moaned. He didn't like this place. It smelled like too many cats lived here and old fast food.

"I don't think you're parents are home, kid." The teenage girl teased. "You hungry? I'm supposed to feed you."

"I'm not hungry, I just want to go home." Daniel said.

"I can't let you go on the streets." she laughed. "A blind kid? You would get hit by a car!"

"I'll be fine." Daniel said as he didn't like this girl. Didn't like this apartment.

"My boyfriend is bringing up something for you to eat, then I want you to watch-" she caught herself. "Well, _listen_ to the TV."

Daniel felt a pit in his stomach that had nothing to do with hunger. He couldn't leave here. He was trapped.

"What is it you do all day anyway?" the girl asked. "I mean, you can't really watch TV or movies. Can't play video games or go online. What? Do you sleep all day? Cuz that's really all you can do."

Daniel was incensed. He did a lot of things. He watched documentaries about Egypt with papa all the time. He like Egypt and his papa would bring him replicas of pyramids and once they even went to a museum where he was allowed to touch things.

He played plenty of games at home with his brother. Thats what brothers were for. He didn't play video games like the ones mommy worked on, but his brother would always play trucks with him and hide and seek. Darcy was always teaching him to dance and grandpa was teaching him to play piano. Already he could play some songs and grandpa said that he was better than he was at the same age. And grandpa was a famous composer!

He did a lot of things besides sleep!

He decided not to answer. He didn't want to tell the girl that new TV's came with a visually impaired option that would narrate the story to fit the dialogue so that he could follow the show. He didn't explain his school had special computers that allowed the students to go online all the time.

This girl was stupid and didn't understand things. She was mean, and that's why she made fun of him.

When she realized he wasn't going to answer her, she walked away. Daniel could hear her jewelry clacking together as she moved. Hear her going to another room. But most importantly, he could hear traffic out the window now.

The TV must have muffled the sound. Even now, Daniel could hear another TV in other room blaring away with some reality show. These people couldn't seem to stand it if there wasn't a TV on, he learned.

He ran his hands over the window. Feeling if it was old or not. If it was new, he was in trouble because it might not open easily. But it it were old, and made of wood, it might slide open.

He smiled as his fingers felt worn, splintery wood. He forced the window open a crack and heard traffic and birds. That was a bad thing. Birds meant he was up high. He wasn't on the ground floor and the traffic noises were far below him.

He tried to force open the window a little more and feel for a fire escape. The teenage witch was still watching TV, and he didn't hear her jewelry move, so he knew he was alone.

He reached out and didn't feel anything.

The child jumped when he heard a door slam and man's voice telling the girl to shut the TV off.

Daniel was quick to shut the window and find his bed again. He even laid down for good measure.

'_Yeah, all I do is sleep_.' he thought with a giddy sense of rebellion.

~ The girl's boyfriend was even stupider that she was.

"He can feed himself?" he asked as he handed the little boy a box of fried fish and chips.

"I guess so." the girl said.

"Hey, kid. I got you a soda. It's on the table right beside you." the boyfriend said.

Daniel reached out on his side looking for the table.

"No, your other side." the boyfriend said as the girl laughed.

"I'm not allowed soda." Daniel informed him.

That wasn't true. There was no soda in the house, but papa bought them it as a treat when he took them to the petting zoo or when they were home alone. Mommy could never find out about it, which made it more fun.

"No soda?" the boyfriend laughed. "What do you drink?"

Daniel found the soda and ran his hands over the lid, looking for the straw.

"Shit, that kid really is blind." the girl said.

"Shut up." the boyfriend told her. "Don't listen to her, kid."

"It's okay. I know I'm blind." Daniel told him as he safely put the sugary drink back on the table and opened the box of salty fish and chips.

"Well, she still shouldn't have said it, kid. I'm sorry." the boyfriend said.

"When can I go home?" Daniel asked.

"In a few days." the boyfriend promised.

"My mommy is going to be really worried. I should call her. Or, you can just put me on a bus. I'll ask the driver to take me there. The blind get free bus rides you know." Daniel said.

"Sorry kid. You just have to stay here a little while. But you have to behave yourself. I don't want to have to lock you in a closet." the boyfriend said.

Daniel said nothing as he ate. He normally was never allowed fast food. Mommy cooked almost every dinner and they always ate healthy.

"Beside, a blind kid isn't exactly going to escape, are you?" the boyfriend laughed.


	6. Chapter 6

6.

~ Ariadne woke to the familiar sounds of Daniel crying. A mother's instinct made jump out of bed and walk, half asleep, to his crib to feed him. The familiar sleepwalk of a nursing mother with a baby who couldn't yet make it through the night.

"It's alright, honey." she whispered to her baby as she approached the crib. Hopefully, he would only be wet and need a brief changing and feeding.

"Mommy's here." she said as she reached the crib and saw it was empty. Her son's cries were echoing all around her as she pulled the blankets off his crib in a rabid search for her son.

"Daniel!" she cried out as his cries became more insistent and wanting. "Daniel!"

She tore apart his nursery looking for her baby like a mad woman.

"Daniel! Where are you?" she screamed.

~ She woke up to Drew playing with her nose. Ariadne opened her eyes to see it was morning already and her youngest had found her way into the bedroom.

Drew was sucking on the pacifier she was too old for, and giggled at her mother.

"Morning, baby." Ariadne smiled weakly at the little girl who had Daniel's dark curling hair and her own expressive eyes.

'_Daniel._' he blood ran cold at the memory of her missing son.

She jumped out of bed leaving Drew to pester a sleeping Arthur and ran to the boy's bedroom.

Dominic was awake and playing with his cars. His bed unmade and his side of the room a mess as always. Daniel's room was neat and organized. His bed was made and a little collection of Egyptian replicas were on the book shelf.

Daniel wasn't here. He didn't sleep here in his bed last night. Ariadne didn't know where her precious baby had slept last night.

She felt panic and grief swell inside her as she heard Arthur's footsteps come down the hall. Her husband was carrying Drew and both of them looked sad.

"Lets feed the kids." he said gravely.

~ Ariadne wouldn't let Dominic or Darcy go to school that day. They stayed by the phones, both knowing what they were waiting for.

"Sir, do you have any enemies? Anyone who might want to do harm to you?" the detective asked in a delicate matter.

Arthur and Ariadne kept their faces blank as they said no. There were plenty of people who would want to do them harm. The work of dream extraction didn't exactly make you friends. It was certain that they could have made a powerful mark angry enough to kidnap their child in retaliation.

Still, they didn't tell the detective this. The world of dream extraction was illegal and if it were ever found out that Arthur took part in it, their troubles had just begun.

The detectives asked more questions about Daniel. What his routines were, who he came in contact with. Was there a custody dispute, or was there any strangers lately who seemed interested in Daniel?

Ariadne couldn't think of anything unusual to tell them. With a blind child, his life was all about routine. That was how he had to function.

The detectives finally left them, and Cobb and Eames came out of Arthur's office.

"We can't rely on the police." Cobb was saying as he opened his laptop and sat in the same place as the detectives.

"Right." Eames agreed. "And I know right where to start."

"You do?" Ariadne asked in hopeful surprise.

"Isn't it obvious? Who is the one person who isn't afraid to hold our loved ones hostage to get what she wants?" the Forger said.

"You mean Genesis?" Arthur asked. "Are we even sure she's still alive? She was reaching 90 the last time I saw her."

"People like her live forever. She's tough and if you're going to get old, you have to be tough." Eames told them.

"I have her card still." Ariadne said excitedly and went to her bedroom to get it.

Arthur leaned in to Cobb and Eames. He didn't want Ariadne to hear. She was too hopeful about the Genesis theory.

"Eames, we can't rule out that some pervert took my son." he hissed.

"We won't, Arthur." Cobb said calmly. "But if anyone can help us, Genesis can. She has connections."

"She's also kidnapped us all before." Eames grumbled.

"There are also former marks, and clients." Cobb added. "We'll find him."

Arthur nodded. He knew Daniel would eventually be found. He hoped still alive.

~ Daniel was bored. He almost never got bored. He told himself stories or played with his always useful brother. Now, he had nothing to do. No toys to play with, no one to talk to, and nowhere to go.

He sat up out of the bed when he heard a toilet flush from upstairs. Someone's heavy footsteps where walking about.

'_Bathroom upstairs?_' he wondered.

He stood out of bed and wandered over the room. Kicking himself for not doing it before. He quickly ran into the sink, and toilet. He was in a large half bathroom. His kidnappers and wedged a bed and TV in here and made it into a cell.

He found the door. An old thing made of wood with a doorknob that he wan't used to working. It was worn smooth from years of use.

He tried to open it, but realized it was locked.

He felt down below the door at the large gap. He could feel cool air and the distinct smell of cigarettes in the other room.

Something touched his hand and he jumped. It was furry and wet to the touch and gave a feeble, curious cry.

'_Cat_.' he thought and put his fingers out to touch the animal.

The cat seemed to like him and rubbed it's head on his fingers. It's paws trying to catch his hands when Daniel pulled them back in.

He felt slightly better as he and the cat played through the gap under the door. The creature seeming to understand that he needed to have some contact. Some kind of reassurance that not all who lived here were evil.

The cat didn't like it when Daniel lost interest in the game and went back to the window.

No one had come and checked on him for a while. He checked his watch, the one papa had gotten him and the school hd taught him how to use. It's numbers raised in brail as if by magic. It was 1600, which meant it was only afternoon. The sun was still out? Yes, he could feel it when he went to the window.

They wouldn't check on him in his makeshift cell for a while. The window opened easier this time, and he could hear birds and traffic once more. The traffic here was much different than at home. It smelled different here to.

Home smelled of trees, wood, bricks and other comforting things. This place, wherever it was, was a jumble of dirty cars, garbage and cooking.

The cat meowed at him to come and play again, but Daniel was too busy.

He leaned out further and tried to listen to each sound. People spoke French, English and even Spanish here. Their voices sounding like whispers from where he was.

Where was he? He couldn't ever remember bring in a place like this. Nothing about the noises or the smells reminded him of anything.

There was a smell of a restaurant, but not one he had been to. It was too spicy and strange. There were sounds of barking dogs and people shouting. Police sirens were going off.

'_Maybe their coming for me!_' he thought hopefully and leaned out further.

He wasn't paying attention and leaned out too far. His small body tipping out and his feet losing their grip on the floor.

He flip flopped out the window into the world outside. His heart stopping as he wondered where he would land.


	7. Chapter 7

7.

~ Daniel felt his world slip away, his breath leave his body, as he fell. He knew he would hit something. Knew it would hurt and that it would be a bad thing.

He instinctively shut his eyes as his hands tried to wildly feel for something to grab a hold of.

When he landed, the air was knocked out of his lungs and he started to cry. He couldn't help the tears that came to his eyes at the shock of the fall and hitting the metal faire escape six feet below the window.

He had been so sure he was going to die at that moment. So sure it would be a fall that would kill him. He was still young enough to think he was invincible, but the past few hours had proven all that thinking wrong.

He had to act fast. Find a way off the fire escape. The school had taken the children on many fire drills in many buildings. He had gone down fire chutes, escape ladders and other means of emergency evacuation for the blind.

It had all been fun for him at the time because there was no danger, but now the danger was very real and close. Close enough to have heard him and might be coming after him.

He felt for the railing and bumped his head hard on something when he stood.

"Ouch!" he said out loud as he could feel a hot, stinging cut tear open on his head.

'_I'm bleeding._' he thought as his hands finally found the stairs and he tried to focus on the noise of the traffic, the sounds of dogs barking and the smell of cooking.

'_Down._' he thought calmly. '_I have to get down. Do it slowly, and quietly_.'

He tried to remember all his training in fire drills. How they had to remember their counts to the door. How they were not allowed to run at all. How they had to hug the walls, test the door knobs and most important call out for help.

He couldn't call out now. Those people might come for him. With any luck at all, they might not know he was escaping. They might be too busy watching some stupid reality show mommy was always complaining about.

He held fast to the railing and slowly marched down the stairs, when he reached the lower level, there was another flight. He took three flights slowly and finally, there were no more steps.

'_What do I do?'_ he wondered hopelessly as he was forced to crawl on his hands and knees to feel for more steps down.

He could hear cars better now. They were moving left to right. The fire escape was close to the street with the cars, but still a ways away.

If he called out for help, the people who took him might hear. If he jumped, he might get hurt.

He was stuck here. Trapped in a metal cage with no way out.

He sat huddled in a corner for what felt like a long time trying to think of a way out.

'I can't stay here.' he thought at last. 'If they find me, they might hurt me.'

He reached out to the railing that was close to the brick wall of the building. Maybe if he climbed down, there might be something he could grab hold of and reach the street that way. He carefully swung his legs over and eased himself down. His arms holding to the railing as his feet dangled over thin air, hoping to catch ground.

He tried to lower himself farther, his bare toes searching for something to land on. The traffic was so close, so obviously close.

He had to do it, he couldn't just hang here forever like a monkey up a tree. He had to take a leap of faith.

He took a deep breath, his young mind trusting he wouldn't die, a let go.

~ Arthur opened the envelope that was sent by a standard carrier in front of Cobb and Eames. He hadn't bothered to call the investigating detectives again. They would only make things more complicated.

Arthur stood and paced the room as he read, his anger at the kidnappers swelling inside him; fit to burst.

Ariadne didn't know about the letter yet. She had taken more medication to keep her calm and had gone to sleep. Albert had cancelled the rest of his tour with Daniel missing. Cobb and Sarah were taking care of the kids. Sadie, sensing she had hurt her friend by letting Daniel leave the balcony, was staying away.

"They want five million in cash." Arthur said at last.

"Five million?" Eames laughed. "Is that all?"

Arthur rolled his eyes and read the note out loud.

"Bring five million in cash to this address and come alone. The boy dies if you don't come alone. Leave bag in dumpster and then go home. Your son will be returned after midnight if we get our money." he read aloud. "There' no picture, no evidence these people even has my son.

"Are you going to pay?" Cobb asked practically.

"We were given no proof of life. How do I even know this is the person who took him? How do I know he's even still alive?" Arthur asked.

"So, what are you going to do?" Eames asked.

"What about Genesis?" The Point Man asked instead.

"Well, Edwina had her boyfriend Specks make the call, but the old lady is the sort who won't be reached until she wants to be." Eames explained. "My guess is she doesn't want to be right now."

"Did you tell her a child is missing?" Cobb said bitterly.

"Course I did." Eames said.

"Arthur, this is the only ransom demand for Daniel's return. I suggest you pay the money and get him back." Cobb said.

"I don't exactly keep five million in cash laying around, Cobb." Arthur told him bitterly.

"I thought you were the only heir to your father's company." Eames said. His expression confused.

"I was." Arthur sighed. "I just manage it now."

When Eames acted like he didn't understand, Arthur had to explain.

"After what happened with Corrine, all that money caused more problems than we could handle. It wasn't worth it. So now, I pay myself a salary just to manage it."

"Now that you can't do extractions..." Cobb added.

"I'm not poor, but I can't just go to the bank and get my hands on that kind of cash." Arthur finished. "At one time, it wouldn't have been a problem."

"There has to be a way." Eames said. "We can come up with five million together."

"No, we don't know if this is a trick." Arthur fumed and stood up. "Daniel may already be dead."

"Arthur?" Cobb said worriedly.

"My son my have been taken by people who want to hurt me for other reasons." the Point Man went on.

"Arthur."

"We have to keep trying Genesis. The police won't be able to help us and I'm not going to play games with these amateurs who are only after a payday." Arthur went on.

He finally noticed Cobb's eyes were wide and frightened.

The Point Man turned around and saw his wife, standing in the door of his office.

"You're not going to pay?" she hissed in a dangerous whisper.

Her eyes became slightly slanted and she looked as if she meant o kill him.

"You can get my son back and you're not going to pay?" she asked again.

Arthur took a step back. His blood running cold at seeing the wrathful look on his wife's face.

Ariadne never got angry. Not like this. No this perfectly calm, deadly hatred that meant she was capable of anything anger.

"We don't know if they have him." he tried to reason. "It's just a note-"

"Pay it!" she demanded sharply.

"Ariadne."

"Pay them the five million. We'll mortgage the apartment, my jewelry, sell of shares of the company, you get the money and you pay it!"

"Arthur's right." Cobb tried to reason. "They are only after money, we need proof of life first."

"Daniel could be dead already." Arthur added.

"Don't you say that!" she screamed. A piercing like call that frightened him. He had never seen her so scared, angry and sad all at once.

She looked at him as if he had betrayed her.

"Never say that again!" she shrieked "If you won't save your own son, I will!"

"Ariadne, just listen." Arthur pleaded. "We have to be careful we don't know enough-"

"My son has been kidnapped and his father won't pay to get him back. That's all I need to know!" she fumed.

Before he could stop her, she had turned on her heel and was gone. Her purse in under her arm and the car keys in her hand.


	8. Chapter 8

8.

~ Daniel felt a sharp pain in his ankle when he hit the ground. He let out a cry as the throbbing started and, instinctively, he clutched his ankle tightly.

'_I want to go home._' he thought bitterly. '_I want mommy, I want papa. I'll never do anything stupid again. I'll never go off on my own again. Their going to be so mad at me now._'

He sobbed slightly at the memory of how his school cost them so much money and how he broke mommy's lamp. How they had to make special arrangements for him because he couldn't see. Why couldn't he just have been born like his brother? They wanted a normal baby, he could tell. He always knew his parents wanted a child who didn't need special schools and teachers. Mommy was always talking about what they would do with him when they got to old to take care of him.

Papa would laugh and say that he could take care of himself, and mommy would get angry. They were always upset about Daniel and the way he was. If he wasn't blind, they would never fight.

He lay there on the cold, wet ground. The smell of rotting garbage was everywhere and he could hear things scurrying about in the nearby trash.

He couldn't lay here feeling sorry for himself forever. As much as he hated the world right now, he had to get up.

He could hear the traffic better and knew it was closer.

'_Stop crying and find the cars. Wave a car down and tell them what happened. Tell them you need to go to the police._' he thought to himself.

His ankle was hurting and he didn't want to risk putting too much weight on it. What if it was broken? It hurt a lot, maybe it was broken.

He hobbled and almost lost his balance as he felt his way along the brink wall and his hands caught hold of a dumpster.

He suddenly heard a glass bottle roll on the ground from a few feet away.

"Hello?" he called out hopefully. Please let some cook be there. Let him be taking out the trash and find him here in this smelly ally.

"Hello?" he called again as he tried to stay balanced on one foot and keep his bearings by the dumpster.

"Please, pleas help me. My name is Daniel... I'm lost." he called out to the person making the noise.

He heard another noise, more rustling in the alleyway.

Distinct clicking of paws meeting the ground sounded off.

'_Dog_.' he thought. Daniel liked dogs and his parents had given thought to getting him a seeing eye dog.

"Hello, doggie." he sighed.

He was grateful for contact with another living being. It had been a comfort to play with the cat, but he was happy to find a nice dog.

"Come here, doggie." he called out hopefully.

He heard more rustling in the garbage and more sounds that dogs make. There wasn't just one dog, but many.

Suddenly, Daniel was frightened. The dogs were keeping their distance from him and he could now hear growling. A low rattle like warning coming from his left side.

"It's okay." he said and tried to back away the way he had come. Away from the sound of the cars that meant salvation.

"It's okay, doggies." he said feeling the urge to cry again.

What a baby he was. Crying because some dogs had scared him. But he was afraid. Afraid when he thought about dogs and their teeth and how they might hurt him.

"I'm leaving." he whimpered when he felt the heavy body of a dog grab hold of his arm and yank him. The dog's jaw very strong and it's teeth bit down harder than he thought possible.

"No!" he cried as the dog shook his arm back and fourth like it was trying pull it off him.

Another dog was on him then. The filthy animals smelling of garbage as they bit and nipped at him. Their teeth latching on to his defenseless body and bitting him where they wanted.

He was too small to fight them off. They were too big and once the first one had his arm, Daniel could do little more than curl into a ball and hope the dogs wouldn't hurt him too much.

He wanted the dog to let him go. Dogs weren't nice at all, they were mean and they were going to eat him.

"Stop it!" he cried pitifully as another dog tried to bite his ears and he curled his head under his free arm like a frightened turtle.

They wouldn't stop. The dogs would stop biting or letting him go. He could feel them bitting his face and ears. Tearing at his clothes. The big dog still held a death lock onto his arm and refused to let him go.

The attack went on and on. His assailants were relentless and teased him like a cat would tease a mouse. They just wouldn't stop.

~ Seth rented a large studio apartment in Paris that he never got around to remodeling like he planned to.

Ariadne's boss was a multi millionaire with his innovative video games, but he still lived like a college student.

Woman like, Ariadne found herself straitening his apartment as he was on the phone with his bank.

He had decorated the place with mismatch furniture that was there for comfort and not style. His loft was trendy, but Seth was getting to old to be a single man living like a teenager.

"Don't do that." he laughed at her when he got off the phone and she was trying to load the dishwasher.

"Seth, is this how you live? Why don't you get a housekeeper?" she asked in disgust. It wasn't filthy, just too much of a man place.

"I had a house keeper, lovely woman who did my laundry, cleaned up, cooked me big dinners and let me call her mommy." Seth joked.

"Funny." Ariadne said bitterly.

"We can go down to my bank right now and get the cash." he said with a serious tone.

"Thank you. I know it was a lot to ask." she said feeling like she was about to cry.

She had gone to her boss, knowing he wasn't the type to spend his money, and explained to him about Daniel.

Seth had asked no questions, just called his bank and told them he had to make a large cash withdrawal.

"It's not too much to ask. Without you, my little start up would have crashed and burned a long time ago." he said.

"I will pay you back." she said hurriedly as he shushed her and escorted them both to the lift.

"Lets get Daniel back first. Then worry about the money later. Money is only money." he said happily.

"Not according to his father." Ariadne huffed. Still angry about what Arthur had said. How he had refused to pay the ransom.

"You two alright?" Seth asked.

"Not really." she admitted.

"When you get your son back, it will be better."

"Maybe." she admitted.

She stole a glance at her boss. The computer wiz had a bland sweater with a purple octopus knitted on it. A simple blaze over that. He was still too hipster for his age.

"If things get too bad with Arthur..." he said at last. "My offer still stands for you and the kids to come stay here for a while."

She closed her eyes and tried not to think about that. How Seth was making things too easy for her lately. She knew he had always been attracted to her. How they were the best of friends at work and how he wanted more. He didn't seem to mind she was a mother of four, or that she was happily married. Seth seemed to want to find cracks in her marriage to Arthur. Wanted to show her how she could be happier with him than the Point Man.

The worst part was, she often thought about a life with Seth. And she was ashamed of herself each time.

"I just want to think about Daniel right now." she said soberly as the lift dinged to the lobby.

"Of course." Seth said reasonably.

~ Arthur thought that his wife had gone to visit Sadie and blow of a little steam. The past few hours had been too stressful for anyone to endure and it had become too much.

"We can stake out the wear house opposite the dumpster." Eames was saying. "We have night vision, and the higher ground. I can mark the kidnappers car with this."

The Forger held up a large high powered riffle.

"Where did you get that?" Cobb asked.

"The less you know." Eames said. "Point is, they won't even know they've been tagged."

"If we find where they are keeping Daniel, how do we extract him safely?" Arthur asked.

"We have to asses the location before we can proceed." Cobb said in that calming way of his. "The mission is doomed to fail if we don't have a way in and out."

"If these people are the kidnappers, and they don't get their money, they might might kill my son before we can get to him." Arthur said.

"We can leave a duffle bag in the dumpster. They won't have time to count it. It will have cash on top and on bottom. Cut out newspaper in the middle. Cops use that trick all the time." Eames explained.

"What if it doesn't work?" Arthur asked.

His son could die because he wasn't willing to pay the ransom. Maybe he should just get the money together and pay it. Maybe Ariadne was right.

As if she could read his mind, the door slammed shut and his wife was home. She was dragging four large black duffle bags on the floor behind her.

"I got the money." she panted and kicked one of the bags to them. Her face full of anger as she refused to look at her husband. "Now, where do we make the exchange?"


	9. Chapter 9

9.

~ Daniel was sobbing when the old woman found him. He was curled in the fetal position and hoping that they dogs would lose interest in him and leave him in peace. His ears were bleeding and he knew his face had been bitten as well.

He didn't exactly process the pain right away. More of the fear that the dogs would come back and hurt him. Open his skin up, and more of the hot wet stuff called blood would come out.

Daniel had never seen blood, but he knew it was bad.

When ever the boys would play too hard, Dominic would cry if he started bleeding. Or grow afraid if Daniel started bleeding. Then they would go to mommy and she would be upset that there was blood.

He knew it was a bad thing, and what was happening to him now was a very bad thing.

But then, the old woman came with her unsteady walk and started to yell at the dogs.

The dog that held his arm whimpered and let go when the old lady hit it.

"Get out of here, you bastards!" she shouted in French. Her accent strange to Daniel as he was too scared to move now.

"Boy, get up." she ordered. "Dogs are gone."

Her voice was thick and gravel like. Almost like a man's voice, but he new it was a woman just now.

It took several seconds to make himself uncurl out of the ball he was in.

"Help me." he cried softly to the voice.

"Look at that face. They did you no favors today." the old woman sighed.

She pulled Daniel up and he felt the pain in his ankle throb.

"I can't walk." he said and clutched tightly to the woman who smelled of moth balls and clothing that was too long in a closet.

Her body was lumpy and not what he was used to. Mommy's boy was smooth and soft. Her frame small and almost delicate.

This woman had lumps in places he wasn't used to. She seemed brittle and her body more breakable than most. Her hands were cold as she helped him get his bearings.

"There, there." she sighed. "Now, tell me why you were in this ally?"

"I want to go home!" Daniel sobbed and clung tightly to the old woman as, together, they hobbled down the ally. A strange duo. Leaning on each other for support.

~ "When I was a girl." the old woman said as Daniel sat on the rim of a large bathtub. "This whole area was different. It wasn't very grand; even then. When the Germans invaded, a lot of people lost their homes. I was six that summer and my neighbors just vanished one morning. It was all so strange."

Daniel felt her gnarled hands cleaning his face with a towel that smelled like soap. He felt himself relax slightly as her hands were gentle and kind.

"Those building lay empty for a long time during the occupation. Now, they're being torn up and built into expensive apartments for people with more money than sense." the old woman sighed.

Daniel wasn't sure what she was talking about. He knew he was in her home now. She had told him that's where they were going and he didn't question it. Her home smelled of cooking and freshly watered potted plants. It smelled of old wood furniture and more moth balls. But it was a safe smell. A smell of a person who had been there a long time and the place was comfortable and protected from bad things.

"This might sting." she warned as he felt her dab something on his wounds.

It did sting and he cried despite himself.

"Don't do that!" he sobbed.

"We have to clean the cuts, child." the woman said sternly. "The sting means it's killing the germs!"

"No." Daniel moaned as she gently cleaned the torn flesh and bandaged him up.

She let out a long sigh and sat on the toilet next to the bath tub.

"Tell me why you weren't in school. Why you were in the ally with no shoes on. Were boys picking on you, son?" she asked.

He kept his head down and his unseeing eyes pointed at his bare feet.

She didn't know he was blind yet. He had taken hold of her like a drowning man desperate for life. She must not have noticed that he couldn't see the way he moved beside her. She must have thought he was just scared and nothing more.

He wasn't sure why he did it. The words fell out of his mouth before he could stop them.

"Yes. The boys at school were picking on me." he said woefully.

"I see." the old woman told him. "Well bullying is a part of life, child. Not a good part, but it's a part of it. You think it stops when you're grown, but it never does. Best get used to it and stand up for yourself. Otherwise, you'll be in an ally getting bitten by dogs every time."

He heard her knees popping as she stood up.

"You call your mother when your ready. Telephone is in the kitchen." she said.

Daniel nodded and said nothing. His face was starting to hurt now. He suddenly didn't want to call mommy and papa. He was so embarrassed that he had let this thing happen to him. He had been stupid and they might be mad at him.

Maybe, he could stay with the old woman for a little while. This place was quite and lost to the rest of the world. It was like one of mommy's old shoe boxes. A nice box that had old shoes she had forgotten about. But the shoes were still safe and smelled like leather.

The world had forgotten this old woman. That was what she was trying to tell Daniel before. Maybe, he could stay here and the world would forget about both of them. Mommy and papa wouldn't fight anymore about the cost of his school because he would be here. They would be happier with Dominic and his two sisters. They could see, they were perfect. Mommy never worried about them the way she worried about Daniel.

"Boy?" the old woman called out. "If you're hungry, come and eat something."

He wasn't hungry.

His body had grown painfully tired. The day had been too much for him and all he wanted to do was sleep.

~ "Wow. So that's what five million looks like." Eames breathed. A look of obvious lust sparkled in his eyes at the sight of the duffle bags.

"What..." Arthur fumbled as he felt his brain lock up. "Where did you get the money?" he managed to ask at last.

"Seth." she said simply and looked defiantly back at him.

"Seth." Arthur repeated. "Your boss?"

"Yes."

"You went to Seth, and he just gave you five million in cash?" he asked. A cold suspicion running painfully in his blood now. It felt like ice had rushed over his skin as he looked back at his wife.

"He has a line of credit at his bank. Any time he needs cash, he can get it." she said and looked away from him.

"Why did he give you this money?" Arthur asked. The memory of finding the birth control in her purse came screaming back to him. "What did you have to do for him?"

"Arthur, what are you talking about?" she asked and still didn't look at him.

"I'm talking about Seth. Men don't give women five million in cash for nothing." he snarled.

"It's not for nothing, Arthur. It's to save my son. Since you're not interested in saving our baby, I had to." she snapped.

"What did you do for him? What did you promise him?" Arthur growled. His mind racing like a train out of control now. He saw in his mind Seth with his wife. Seth wanting to take his place. The reason his wife was on birth control was because of Seth.

"I didn't do anything for him." she spat back hatefully. "I told him what was happening to my son. I've made him a multi millionaire and he had no problem getting the money for me to get Daniel back."

"Don't you lie to me." Arthur said.

"Arthur." Cobb said. The Extractor's voice calm and was able to break the tension that was building.

Arthur took a step back and refused to look at her.

"We have the money now. Lets go ahead with the plan. We'll deliver the money and trace the car back to wherever they're keeping Daniel." Cobb said an a soothing voice.

"I'm going with you." Ariadne said.

"No, I'm going." Arthur interrupted. "You're staying here."

"No, I'm not!" she shouted at him.

Never before had Arthur wanted to hit his wife. Not when she had starved herself after Dominic was born or when she had threatened to terminate her pregnancy with Drew.

Just now, his hand itched to slap her. To wound her just as sharply as she had wounded him.

"Why don't you go stay with Seth?" he whispered. His voice shaking. "I'll let you know when I get our son back."


	10. Chapter 10

10.

~ Daniel sat perfectly still in the bathroom and could hear the old woman in the kitchen humming. The sounds of dished rattling out of cupboards and placed on tables. flatware clinking and being placed on the table next to the plates.

Her apartment was comforting to him and he didn't want to leave it just yet.

He wasn't entirely sure he wouldn't be punished when he got home for wandering off from his parents. He might be in trouble for ruining Darcy's big night. For leaving the balcony, talking to a stranger, and losing his shoes.

No, he wasn't ready to think about all of that yet. He stood and listened to the echo of the apartment. he could guess where the kitchen was by the sounds of the old woman, and it wasn't too hard to find the bedroom. He was suddenly very tired and couldn't stay awake much longer.

'_This was all just a bad dream._' he told himself as he curled up on top of her bed covers. The blanket was scratchy, but clean and smelled like soap. He was asleep before he gave a thought to anything else.

He didn't care if the old woman found him sleeping in her bed and cast him out. If mommy and papa were mad at him. He didn't care about anything.

~ He dreamed of water. Of how it felt in his hands and feet when it rained. How the air smelled so different and how the cars made so much more noise when it was storming outside. How the rain drops made little_ pat pat _noises on the windows. The sounds of water trying to get in. Like an invading army storming a castle.

It was a comforting sound. Like being isolated from the rest of the world. No one moved around much on rainy days. They stayed at home like it wasn't safe to be out in the rain. Rain was good to him, peaceful and calm.

Then he dreamed of dogs hunting him. Of their teeth biting at him and dragging him down.

"No!" he shouted in his sleep and tried to fight off the dog that wouldn't let him go.

"It's alright, child." the old woman was saying as he swam to the surface of wakefulness. "It's alright."

"Mommy, papa." he moaned and felt too hot. "Mommy, I'm hot. I don't want the covers on me."

"You're burning up, child." the old woman whispered.

"Mommy..." he started to cry as his world become very confused. He didn't know where he was, or how he had gotten on this strange bed with some one he didn't know telling him it was alright.

"I want mommy!" he cried and covered his face with his hands. He wished he was a turtle. A creature who could just pull up inside himself when the world got too scary.

"I think your sick, child." the strange woman at his bed said.

"I want to go home!" he cried uncontrollably.

~ Ariadne hadn't spoken to her husband for the past hour. The pair had dropped off the bags of cash in the dumpster and waited a few blocks away for the kidnappers to collect their ransom. It was well past midnight and dawn was threatening to break the sky line.

Eames was on the roof keeping lookout and Cobb had even installed a tracker in one of the bags for good measure. If the kidnappers took the money, they would be able to track them.

However no one showed up to collect the ransom, leaving them all to fear Daniel was already dead.

In the suffocating quite, Arthur likewise refused to speak first. He was angry at the world just now. Mad that Ariadne had ignored his wishes and gone with him to deliver the ransom, mad that she was able to get the cash from Seth and mad that she was mad at him.

He took a deep breath and chanced a look at his wife. She had been his best friend, his team mate, his bride and the mother to his children.

She had seen Darcy through her horrible cancer treatments, his father dying and leaving behind a shattered company. She had always been a perfect wife and mother. How had they gotten here? Two strangers in a car, refusing to look at each other.

"We're _not_ getting a divorce." he said at last.

She was silent.

"Divorce is not an option. I'm not losing you to Seth, or anyone else." he added.

She rolled her eyes and took a deep breath.

"You honestly think I'm cheating on you with Seth?" she asked.

"Arn't you?" he asked numbly. A pit of self pity burrowing deep inside him.

"Of course not, Arthur." she sighed. "I sleep next to you every night. How could you think I was ever unfaithful?"

"The money." he said darkly. "Who gives someone that kind of cash for no reason?"

"He had a reason. My designs made him a fortune and he feels slightly guilty about it." she said.

"Ariadne, he came over for dinner that one time." he pointed out. "I walked in and you were both on the couch."

"When we were separated." she said bitingly "Need I remind you, you were out with Corrine at the time. We've had a lot more drama from women interested in you than men interested in me."

That much was true. Corrine and Becky had given his marriage a true test. Not to mention the fact that his wife was raising another woman's child like her own.

"I've never cheated on you, Arthur." she said and looked out the windshield.

He shook his head.

"Ariadne, I found the birth control in your purse." he said sadly.

There, she wouldn't be able to talk her way out of that.

She glared at him in shock.

"You went through my bag?" she asked.

He laughed.

"Yes. Since I had a vasectomy, would you mind explaining to me why you're on the pill? If you're not sleeping with Seth, why are you on the pill?" he growled.

He was suddenly angry at the innocent act she was trying to give.

She said nothing, only reached for her purse and pulled out the plastic compact.

"Look inside." she demanded coldly.

"I don't want to see them." he waved a hand away from her.

"You want to crucify me, here I am. Open the compact and read the name." she ordered.

He looked back at her and took the clam like case of birth control, his hands opening it slowly to read the information and directions on the label.

"_Darcy_?" he asked in shock.

He looked at Ariadne.

"Darcy is having sex? She's only eleven." he said as he read his daughter's name on the label.

"She's twelve, and they are not for preventing pregnancy." she told him.

He didn't understand.

"What?" he asked.

She let out a long sigh.

"She got her first period about six months ago. It was very painful and she's had spotting ever since. The doctor feels it had to do with her cancer treatments. The pill is to correct the hormone imbalance in her system. The dancing doesn't really help, she's way too thin; the cancer treatment put her in real jeopardy of never having children. If we can get her hormones and her weight to stabilize, she could have a family one day." Ariadne explained as Arthur looked at the name tag again and still didn't understand.

"Why didn't you tell me this?" he asked.

"Darcy was embarrassed by the whole thing. She didn't want her dad to know she got her period and that she's not a little girl anymore." Ariadne told him.

"So, you kept me in the dark?"

"Arthur, I knew you wouldn't be able to handle this, so I took care of it. I have her seeing the best OBGYN in the city and hopefully, she'll be fine one day."

"Unbelievable." he grumbled.

They turned away from each other and watched the dawn creep over the city.

"The kidnappers haven't come for their money yet." Arthur said at last.

Ariadne said nothing. They both knew that could mean their son was already dead.

"I know you're angry at me. For not allowing you to do anymore inceptions." she said with difficulty.

Arthur shook his head.

"I'm not mad."

"Yes, you are. It was your chosen life's work. You loved it." she insisted.

"I loved it, but I love you and the kids more." he said. "If I can't do inceptions anymore, because of my health, then that's how it has to be."

"But you're mad at me." she said stiffly.

"No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are!"

She gave him a bitter look of frustration.

"Ariadne, I'm not blaming you." he said sincerely.

She was about to argue again when his cell phone rang.

"It's Sadie." he said with a scowl.

"Probably wants to apologize again for letting Daniel wander away." Ariadne sighed. The memory of her precious son haunting her.

"Sadie, what is it?" Arthur growled into the phone.

She saw his face lighten slightly as he listened to the other person on the phone.

"Ariadne." he whispered. "They found Daniel."

**Sorry it took so long for me to update. Been very busy with work and other projects. **


	11. Chapter 11

11.

~ "Arthur, wait!" Ariadne cried as she tried to correct the high heel that had almost caused her to trip. Heels that were not meant for her to run in.

The Point Man was quick to turn and take his wife's hand, almost pulling her down the hall.

He had driven like a mad man through the city to get to the run down hospital an hour's drive outside of Paris.

"Why would they bring him here?" Ariadne huffed as she was already out of breath from running. "Did the kidnappers let him go?"

"I don't know." Arthur said as they ran down the long halls. Ariadne could already see a very tall woman with spider like legs and arms.

"Sadie!" she called out and her oldest friend turned.

"He's going to be alright." the spider woman said quickly as both Arthur and Ariadne were breathless from all their running.

"_Going to be_?" Ariadne cried. "I want to see him."

"Ariadne," Sadie said calmly. "He's in with the doctor right now.

"He's been hurt?" Arthur barked angrily. His worst fear had come true. "Hurt... hurt how... exactly?" he said.

How could he stand it if those animals had touched his son that way?

"Well it seems he's been here for about 12 hours now." Sadie said apologetically.

"What?" the parents gasped. "No one called us!"

"The lady who found him, her name is Claudia, and she's a little senile. She found him in an ally outside her apartment. He didn't tell her he was kidnaped. She called an ambulance and it seems they didn't put it together that he was even blind let alone a missing child. They thought the woman who found him was his grandmother." Sadie explained.

"Is he alright? I want to see him." Ariadne demanded.

The spider woman looked a little nervous.

"When he was found, it seems he was being attacked by a pack of dogs." she added at last.

"What?" Ariadne said as her eyes grew large with fear and shock.

"He's going to be alright. Daniel isn't saying much, but aside from the dog bites and a fever, he's fine." Sadie told them.

"A fever? I want to see my son!" Ariadne said storming past the spider woman and into the exam room.

~ Daniel could hear his mother's worried cries in the next room and cringed. She sounded angry and he wasn't ready to face her.

"Sounds like your parents are glad you're okay." the doctor who had stitched up his arm said.

Daniel didn't like the doctor. He kept giving him something called bee stings to numb the pain on his face and arms before he gave him stitches. It seemed the dogs had hurt him more than he or the old lady realized.

He wasn't sure how he had gotten here. An ambulance had come for him and the old woman had only said he was a local boy.

At first, Daniel had been too afraid to say a word. Afraid he would be in trouble, so he said nothing as the doctor's gave him stitches and asked where his parents were. Eventually, a nurse convinced him his mother must be worried and he gave them the safest number he could think of.

Sadie was a conundrum of a woman. Papa was always mad at her and no one else when she was around. The two of them never agreed on anything.

But when Sadie was there, no one had time to focus on anything else. Instead, all attention was focused on the tall woman, who's shoes made funny noises and who smelled like spicy perfume.

She had come right away. Asked if he was alright. Asked if he knew who had taken him.

"Taken me?" he had asked.

He didn't understand what she meant. Why would anyone take him?

"Don't you remember?" she had asked. "Don't you remember the ballet, and leaving the balcony?"

"I..." he struggled to find the memory. He wasn't sure what he remembered. His face hurt and the drugs were making him confused.

He had sighed and told her he only remembered dogs and the old woman finding him.

The doctor had told Sadie that, aside from the dog bites and a concussion, he was fine.

He shied away from the noises in the hall now. His parents were here now and he was sure they would be angry. he had never been punished before. Not really.

Not like Dominic and Darcy were punished.

Mommy was always sending Darcy to her room and papa was always taking his brother's privileges away. He was scared now about his parent's wrath being unleashed on him.

"Daniel?" he heard mommy's voice coming into the room.

He heard her gasp and let out a sob.

"My baby, what did they do to you?" she cried and he could feel her arms around him. Her safe, warm body holding him close to her.

He felt a raw, uncontrollable urge to cry just then and tried to hold it back.

Mommy smelled like mommy. She smelled of lavender soap and her hair felt good to the touch. She was wearing a soft sweater that tickled his nose and made him bury his face in her shoulder.

He sensed his father was close to. His large hands on his back and he could now smell the subtle after shave in the air as his father was holding him and mommy.

"Daniel, are you alright?" he asked.

The little boy pulled away from his mother. He didn't want his father to see him crying.

"I'm okay." he said weakly. "I just... I ran into some dogs is all."

He felt his father's hands take his. Felt his mother run her fingers through the curls in his hair.

"Yes you did." papa said gently as he heard his mother sniff back tears.

He sensed papa was smiling and knew his parent's weren't angry at him at all.

~ "Will he have scars?" Ariadne asked once Daniel was sleeping in his hospital bed. The little boy was still running a fever and the medicine he was given made him intensely sleepy.

"We can't tell yet." the doctor sighed. "It was a very bad attack by those dogs."

"All over his arms and face." Ariadne said and tried not start crying again.

The relief at seeing her baby alive was so wonderful, she could easily forgive the railroad track stitches on his face and arms.

"Let's worry about the scars later." Arthur said darkly. "We have our son back. Doctor, is there any indication he was... well... abused in any way."

"There is no evidence of any sexual assault." the doctor said calmly. "However his shoes were missing. When the nurse asked him about it, he just said that 'they' took them."

"The woman who found him, she must live close to the people who took him." Ariadne reasoned.

"When we found out who he really was, that he was a kidnapped child, police began to search the neighborhood. Nothing has turned up, not the child's shoes or any clues as to where he was being held." the doctor said.

"Maybe they just let him go." Sadie offered.

"Eames just texted me. The money still hasn't moved." Arthur told them.

"So, we don't know who took our son?" Ariadne asked and had to fight the urge not to cry again.

"Ma'am?" the doctor said soothingly. "You have your son back. A little banged up, but he's back. He may remember what happened to him, he may not. But let's be grateful that he's alive and going home soon."

~ "The woman who found him." Mommy was saying when she thought Daniel was sleeping. "We need to do something for her."

"Like?" Papa said.

"I don't know. A reward or something. She chased the dogs away. Who knows what might have happened if she hadn't."

"Do you really think whoever took him just let him go?" papa asked in a whisper.

"I don't care." mommy whispered and Daniel felt her lips on his cheek. A cheek that was still numb from the pain medication.

"He's safe and home now. That's all that matters." she said and the little boy fell back asleep with his parent's keeping watch over him.


	12. Chapter 12

12.

~ Arthur had to smoke in secret these days. Ariadne had made him quit years ago, but he occasionally had to have a cigarette to calm his nerves. He never told her, and if she knew he still smoked, she never said a word about it.

He had woken up in the middle of the night with an intense need to check all the locks and windows.

His son was sleeping safely curled next to his mother's body. Their cheeks were both pink and warm from sleep and didn't stir when he silently left them. His anxiety getting the better of him as he had to make sure the apartment was safe.

Darcy and the other children were still with Cobb and Sarah. They hadn't been told yet that their brother was home. His parents wanting their son all to themselves for now.

It was too cold to be out on the balcony smoking, but he didn't care. He needed to relax a little. Convince himself that no one could get into the apartment. Tomorrow he would have a newer security system installed. Maybe even a panic room.

His wife had insisted their son sleep with them the first night back. The over protective mother in her coming back in full force and wasn't to be reasoned with or questioned. Arthur had agreed this time. Remembering when Daniel was still a toddler and so fragile.

His stitched up face and arms reminded him of how helpless the child truly was.

Arthur sensed it was more of a comfort for her than Daniel to have him in their bed. The little boy on so much pain medication he was asleep on the car ride home. The point man having to carry his warm, heavy body to their bed as Ariadne rushed to get his night clothes and the two of them undressed the child as though he were still a baby.

His mother watched him sleeping for a long time and the parents exchanged whispered talk of how wonderful his hair was. How he was so brave and how much they loved him. Their fights before seemed so stupid now. The silly bickering between two prideful people who won't admit any fault.

Movement caught Arthur's eye and he saw a small figure emerge from the bedroom. Daniel had wandered out and was headed to the kitchen. Most likely hungry or wanting something to drink.

Arthur watched his son successfully maneuver to the fridge and find where Ariadne kept fruit and cheese. He watched as Daniel poured himself some water to drink and even get some crackers from the pantry.

He was proud of him. Let the other children become prima ballerinas, politicians or astronauts. He would always be proudest of Daniel.

The father watched his so called helpless son eat his self made dinner and even clean up from his view out the balcony. At last he came back inside, as loudly as he could so as not to alarm the poor boy.

"Mommy will be mad." Daniel warned.

"About what?" Arthur laughed and sat next to his son.

"Smoking."

"Ah, now what makes you think I was smoking?"

"I can smell it."

"I see." Arthur told him and tried not to smile. "Well, we can't tell mommy then."

A brief smile flighted over Daniel's face and for a moment, he was the same child he always was.

"I'm sorry I tried to go to the bathroom by myself." the little boy said at last. "I thought I could find it. I thought you would be proud of me if I went on my own."

"Daniel." Arthur said sternly and he saw the child tense up. "I'm already proud of you."

The boy shook his head.

"Your mother and I are amazed at everything you do. You're at the top of your class at school. You're reading well above your age group and you can do a lot of stuff on your own." Arthur continued. "When I was your age, I wasn't reading yet, or making my own bed or meals. I'm very proud of you."

"You wish I could see." Daniel said in a soft voice that was almost like a whisper.

Arthur felt offended.

"Daniel." he said as gently as he could. His tone still coming out too harsh. "All I wish is for you to have a good life. You amaze me everyday. Most people, myself included, could never handle not being able to see. Your mother and I wouldn't have you any other way."

"You and mommy are always fighting about me." the child said.

Arthur felt ashamed of himself. He didn't want his son to know he was fighting with Ariadne.

"You're mother and I have disagreements about how to raise you." Arthur explained. "But it's only because we love you so much."

"Will I still be able to go to school?" Daniel asked.

"Of course. You have to go to school." Arthur laughed.

"Only, it's expensive."

"Who told you that?"

"The other kids."

"Daniel, it's not your job to worry about money. That's my job and your mother's job." Arthur told him. "Your job is to go to school, practice piano and help your brother. You know he's not a smart as you."

Daniel smiled. It was no secret that he was the bright one in the family.

"And never wander away from us again." Arthur told him sternly. "You gave us a terrible scare."

"I'm sorry." Daniel whispered.

"What do you remember?" Arthur asked.

"There was a teenage girl. She had on lots of jewelry and a man brought me fast food to eat." Daniel said. "The apartment smelled like cat litter and they had a cat. It was high up, I went down three or four flight of stairs when I crawled out of the fire escape."

"You climbed out the window and onto the fire escape?" Arthur asked. He could scarcely believe this child had so brazenly gotten away from his captors.

"I was going to go to the the street. I heard cars and then the dogs found me." Daniel added.

"I'll have to call the detectives in the morning. Tell them to look for a building with a fire escape near where that lady found you." Arthur said gently. "Did you climb any fences? How many steps did you take before the dogs found you?"

"I don't remember." Daniel sighed.

"It's okay, son." he said.

He felt that nagging question pester him once more.

"Daniel?"

His good son looked up at him. His eye white and unseeing.

"Did those people... touch you? In a bad way? Like where you go to the bathroom?" Arthur asked and felt his nerves flare up.

His son didn't seem to understand and he saw his own expression coming over his son's face. A look of confusion.

"What do mean?" the child asked.

"I mean... if someone touched you in a..." Arthur took a deep breath.

"You mean molested?" Daniel asked helpfully.

Arthur looked at his son in surprise.

"Where did you learn that word?" he asked.

"School."

"Alright. Did anyone molest you?"

"No. They didn't touch me. Just took my shoes and made fun of me for being blind." Daniel said.

"Were the voices ones you recognized? Did they sound familiar?" Arthur asked.

"No. They we're stupid." Daniel said.

"Yes, they were." Arthur laughed.

"Can I sleep in my own bed?" the boy asked.

"Sure." Arthur laughed. "But I can't promise your mother won't drag you back to sleep with her."

Daniel smiled again and his father circled round the table to pick him up. It was one of the rare moments he got to hold his son. The boys were growing up and he didn't want to coddle them. But just now, Daniel fitted neatly in his arms and the child didn't protest. He just clutched to his father's neck and was carried to his own room.

Arthur normally counted on Ariadne to put the boys to bed and he rarely got the chance to tuck them in.

"Are you sure you'll be okay by yourself tonight?" he whispered as he folded the blankets to his son's chin.

"Yeah. Mommy snores." Daniel said.

"Yeah she does, but don't tell her that." he advised.

"I don't know how you can sleep with all that snoring."

"You get used to it." Arthur said. "When you're married you'll see."

"I'm not getting married." Daniel informed him.

"Oh?"

"No. If I get married, she'll just start acting like a mommy and I already have one."

"Very smart of you." Arthur agreed. "What if you want kids someday?"

"I won't."

"You might."

Daniel shook his head and yawned.

"Good night, son." Arthur sighed and kissed the boy on the forehead.

"Papa?"

"Yes?" Arthur said.

"I'm sorry I cried before. I know men don't cry." Daniel confessed.

"Oh." Arthur said.

"It's just, I was so glad you and mommy were there and you wen't mad at me... I couldn't help it." Daniel explained.

"You know, when we didn't know where you were, I cried. You can ask your grandpa." Arthur said. "It's okay for men to cry sometimes. Like when someone you love is missing or you're glad to be with the people you love most again."

"You cried?" Daniel asked.

"Of course." his father insisted. "Now, go to sleep. When your brother and sisters get home in the morning, we'll have a nice family breakfast."

"Dominic will tease me about what happened." Daniel said as Arthur stood and was halfway out the door.

"Your brother will tease you no matter what." the point man said.

~ Daniel hadn't been lying. Ariadne did snore loudly. Arthur had to smile at her small body taking up so mush room on the bed. Her arms and legs sprawled wide as she no doubt searched for her baby even in her sleep.

"Ariadne?" Arthur whispered as he crawled into bed with her.

She stirred slightly and opened her eyes.

"Wake up." he insisted.

"Where?" she moaned and her arms searched for their son. "Where's Daniel?"

"I put him back in his bed." Arthur said and rolled easily on top of her. His blood starting to run hot in his body as being close to his wife excited him.

"Why?" she asked as he became enchanted by her large eyes and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear.

"He wanted to sleep in his own bed." he told her and hoped she would sense what he wanted from her.

"Arthur, I'm going to worry." she whispered as he felt her legs rise up around his hips.

"He's fine. I think he's already asleep." Arthur said. "I wanted to tell you, I'm sorry for everything. All the anger and blaming we've been doing. All the fighting. I'm frustrated I can't do inceptions anymore. I'm not happy just running the company. I took it out on you and... I'm very sorry."

He saw her eyes soften at the apology.

"I'm sorry to." she whispered back as he started kissing her ear. A favorite of his in the arsenal of weapons he used to arouse her.

"I don't want to fight anymore." he whispered in her ear and he could hear her breathing pick up.

"I don't want to either." she said weakly as he felt her hips buck up against him.

"Think he'll remember more about who took him?" she asked as his nose nuzzled her ear.

"Maybe. We might never know who did this." he admitted and kissed her.

He felt her body bloom to life under him as her skin became hot.

"I want to make love." he said in a husky voice as he started to slip her night shirt off; exposing her soft body to him.

She smiled up at her. Her angelic eyes alight with mischief.


	13. Chapter 13

13.

~ Seth rode the lift up to his loft apartment. He loved his apartment. It was filled all the kitsch items from the 50's and 60's he had always liked. Ariadne hated it, but it suited his taste perfectly.

When she eventually came to live with him, she would learn to love it to. The kids would spend most of her time in school or dance camp and then off to be with their dad. Seth was sure he would see very little of the four kids that he knew came along with Ariadne. He liked children, but he didn't like Arthur. Boring, domineering Arthur. He wondered how a flower like Ariadne could stand him.

"Arthur?" Seth said in surprise as he saw the Point Man waiting for him.

His rival was sitting in one of the off beat, trendy chairs he had over paid for and looking over the collection of vintage vinyl records.

"Seth." the Point Man said.

"I'm glad to see you. Ariadne said Daniel is home safe and sound. That's good." Seth said nervously.

He shrugged off his messenger bag and tired to look innocent.

"It _is_ good." Arthur said coldly and gave him a penetrating look.

"So, did he get a good look at the people who took him?" Seth asked.

"Daniel's blind, remember? He didn't recognize the voices and the area wasn't near where any of us had ever been before." Arthur explained as he slid out a first pressing of '_Meet the Beatles_!" and looked it over.

"That's an... that's an original." Seth said nervously.

"Right." Arthur said and casually slid the record back in it's worn sleeve. "I only came here to bring your money back."

"Oh." Seth said brightly. "Well, that's good. That you were able to get the money and the boy back."

"It is." Arthur said and stood.

"How... how did you get in here, anyway?" Seth asked and felt somehow inferior to Arthur in an strange way.

"You will find, Seth, that I have many talents." Arthur said dryly. "One of those is finding out things about certain individuals."

Seth felt a sudden chill go off down his spine.

"Secrets." Arthur clarified. "We all have them."

The Point Man closed the distance between them and gave Seth what he could only assume was a smile. Although on Arthur, it was hard to tell.

"You, for example have been laundering money from your own company for about a year now. Thats why you were able to get your hands on five million in cash so easily. You've set up dummy accounts all over the world and never paid taxes on any of them. You've misled the share holders. That might be considered a very serious crime." Arthur said.

"You're wrong." Seth retorted eagerly.

"I'm not wrong." Arthur said shaking his head.

"I paid my taxes."

"Not on the so called 'variable loss' that you devised. It's very clever. Your software was successful, but you didn't report how successful. Just pocketed the money and claimed you did okay. It's good for you image to. You don't want to be _too_ popular, or you'll lose your hipster crowd. But, we both know you'll get caught. When you do, you'll lose everything."

Arthur was moving around him and Seth wondered how he could have found all this out.

"What do you have now?" Arthur mused "Twenty million? Thirty?"

"What is you want?" Seth said bitterly. He knew that Arthur knew the truth.

"I want you to leave Paris. Never come back. Go to America. I'm sure New York or California would love to have you. I want you to liquidate your company and give your faithful employees a share of the sale. If you do, you'll get away clean. If you come back or try to make contact with my wife again, my friends and I will expose you."

"Your friends?" Seth laughed.

Arthur was unfazed and shrugged.

"My associates. They know all about this little game of yours and if anything happens to me or my family, you will be exposed for the thief and criminal you are." Arthur said.

"I had nothing to do with your son's kidnapping." Seth said in a final act of revenge.

"I know. Believe me, I thought you had for a while. But my friends made sure that you had no knowledge of who took him." Arthur said in a dangerous voice.

"If the worst had happened, if the boy had died, she would have come to me." Seth said with a cocky smirk. "She doesn't love you anymore."

Arthur didn't appear pained or phased in the slightest.

"Leave." he growled and, for a terrible moment, Seth thought the Point Man was going to strike him.

"I'll leave. But if she comes to me, and she will, I won't turn her away." Seth said at last as Arthur was turning to go home.

"Don't forget your stupid vinyl." the Point Man called back.

~ Arthur felt his eyes roll awake and saw the light coming from the window. He was in Seth's apartment. A place that looked like it was decorated right out of . All that was missing was Zooey Deschannel.

"How'd it go?" Eames asked from his seat next to the Point Man.

"I think it worked." Arthur said and quickly disconnected himself from the line connecting himself and a sleeping Seth to the device.

"I thought Ariadne said no more inceptions." the forger said.

"She said no more _extractions_." Arthur clarified and Eames rolled his eyes. "I think it will work. Seth will harbor the idea that the law is closing in on him. He'll be paranoid and want to sell his company to cover his tracks."

"Right. I still don't see why I couldn't have gone in. Forged myself as you or even better, Ariadne." Eames offered.

"No, I wanted to do this myself." Arthur said as he watched Seth sleeping in his chair. The Point Man and Forger had taken Ariadne's boss into dream sharing to implant the idea of leaving town forever.

"You sure he didn't take Daniel?" Eames asked.

"It wouldn't have been his style. Besides, I went though all his secrets. There was nothing about my son." Arthur sighed and felt something wet on his upper lip.

"You're nose." Eames said and pointed.

Arthur felt at the wetness and drew back blood.

"Damn." the point man growled and fished out a cotton handkerchief.

"Don't let Ariadne see that." Eames advised.

Arthur said nothing as he waited for the bleeding to stop. He hadn't had a random nose bleed like this in weeks.

"Arthur, are you okay?" the forger asked.

Arthur looked at the blood soaking the handkerchief. The nose bleed stopping just as suddenly as it started.

"I'm fine." the Point Man said and tried to ignore the dizzy feeling he was having. Tried to ignore the strange symptoms he had been experiencing lately.

Symptoms he didn't dare tell Ariadne about. He didn't want her to worry about him. He would go back to the doctor again and they would run more tests. He would worry Ariadne when he had something definite to worry her about.

Right now, he would go home to his wife and children. Enjoy the time he had left with them.

** ~ END ~ **


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